Rented an Accord this weekend (sport 1.5T trim)

[robg]

Realize that none of us are in the market for a mainstream sedan, but I was pleasantly surprised to get this instead of the usual rental car choices. In fact, I think this is the first time i've ever gotten a Honda rental. Went to a wedding in a town off route 1 in Norcal so got plenty of time driving it on very windy roads. Did about 250 miles. I think its good to drive one of these as a way to reset/calibrate your automotive palate.

1. This thing is huge... everytime I parked it seemed like the car was sticking out. Backseat legroom was limo-like. My son loved it of course. No rear air vents seems like a really cheap touch though.
2. High quality dash w/ good ergonomics. Everything is straight-forward. Nice audi-like clicky climate controls but cheap feeling stalks. A couple nice touches i wasnt expecting like adaptive cruise control and a brake hold feature. Also had lane centering which I tried once and quickly shut off (was kinda scary).
3. Kinda silly that you need to choose between having a tach and other info (such as media) that can also appear on the same screen in the cluster.
4. Really nice ride/handling balance. Last BMW that was this good was probaby the e39. Best part of the car and much better than it needs to be. Held its own on route 1.
5. Natural feeling steering weight (not too light or heavy)
6. CVT. I'm of 2 minds on this. In normal driving, I think I prefer this over modern 8,9 and 10 speed transmsissions The good: No weird delay when starting from a stop, always feels in the right "gear" (cause of course it is), really efficient (averaged 32 mpg despite not treating this car very nicely), no clunky downshifts or upshfits (of course). Didn't seem to "rev hang" during acceleration either. Downsides: I used the paddles to manually "shift" it during some driving and it makes the most miserable mooing/whining/whirring noises when you do that. Yeah I know-- no one will do that. Paddles felt really cheap to use as well.
7. The engine doesn't feel like the Hondas of old. It doesn't sound that good and doesnt seem like it really enjoys revving. Good torque and efficiency though.
8. Seats weren't terrible but my back and butt were sore after only an hour. Did have 4 way lumbar support surprisingly.

Anyway- its one of those cars that does so many things well for a reasonable price that you really start to quesion why you need anything more. But, the reality is, I think for the same money I'd likely go to the VW dealer and pick up a GTI. I'd also take a close look at the new Civic hatch... nicer interior (IMO) in a smaller package w/ greater utillity. Not a huge fan of the exterior styling on either but the are both fine.

[John V]

A buddy of mine has one of these as a daily driver. It replaced his DSG GTI. He really likes (as you note) the ride and handling and the efficiency, plus the interior quality.

I experienced the 1.5T in a Civic that I drove not too long ago. I hated it. It has seemingly no power on tip-in, then a surge of torque, then falls flat as it revs out. Typical tiny engine with a tiny turbo, and not very pleasant. I kept thinking it would be a much better car with an electric motor.

[robg]

Originally Posted by John V

A buddy of mine has one of these as a daily driver. It replaced his DSG GTI. He really likes (as you note) the ride and handling and the efficiency, plus the interior quality.

I experienced the 1.5T in a Civic that I drove not too long ago. I hated it. It has seemingly no power on tip-in, then a surge of torque, then falls flat as it revs out. Typical tiny engine with a tiny turbo, and not very pleasant. I kept thinking it would be a much better car with an electric motor.

Was thinking the same thing about it being better as an ev when I was writing up my impressions of the cvt.

Did he miss the GTI?

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[Jeff_DML]

thanks for the review, yeah they look huge to me

[John V]

Originally Posted by robg

Was thinking the same thing about it being better as an ev when I was writing up my impressions of the cvt.

Did he miss the GTI?

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From a driving enjoyment perspective, I think a little bit, but he likes the handling of the Accord and its a better fit for the kids.

The GTI had a bit over 100,000 miles and was falling into typical VW-ness. The power windows occasionally didn't work, the bluetooth occasionally didn't work, the intake manifold had to be replaced (apparently some kind of swirl-flap thingies stopped functioning and was causing a CEL), and a bunch of other niggling reliability issues were cropping up. I think he's hoping the Honda will be more reliable.